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Recycling of Waste XLPE Using a Modular Intermeshing Co-Rotating Twin Screw Extruder  

Bang, Dae-Suk (Department of Polymer Science and Engineering Kumoh National Institute of Technology)
Oh, Soo-Seok (Department of Polymer Science and Engineering Kumoh National Institute of Technology)
Lee, Jong-Keun (Department of Polymer Science and Engineering Kumoh National Institute of Technology)
Publication Information
Elastomers and Composites / v.39, no.2, 2004 , pp. 131-141 More about this Journal
Abstract
The recycling of waste XLPE(crosslinked polyethylene), which is a major source of scraps from high voltage power transmission cables, has been discussed. The waste XLPE scraps were ground into fine powder with various sizes from less than $100{\mu}m$ up to about $1000{\mu}m$ using two types of tailor-made pulverizers. The compounds were prepared in a modular intermeshing co-rotating twin screw extruder at various conditions such as different compositions, types and powder sizes of waste XLPE, screw configurations and various polymer matrices (LDPE, HDPE, PP, PS). The mechanical and rheological properties and the fracture surface or the compounds were investigated. It was found that an improved impact strength was obtained from the compound with white XLPE powder pulverized from the scraps without outer/inner semi-conductive layers. Generally, the impact strength increases with the content of XLPE but decreases with the size of XLPE. Especially for LDPE, the extrusion was possible up to 80 wt% loading of XLPE. Also, the impact strength increases with the number of kneading disc blocks in the given screw configurations. The melt viscosity of the compounds increases with increasing XLPE loading. However, the higher shear thinning behavior of the compounds at common shear rates implies proper processibility of the compounds. In addition, the impact strength for other polymer matrices used increases with XLPE and it is noticeable that the impact strength of PS/XLPE (80/20 wt%) compound was improved twice that of pure PS.
Keywords
XLPE; intermeshing co-rotating twin screw extruder; compounding; screw configuration; impact strength; mechanical properties;
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